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Defense. Solana's tracks for strengthening the ESDP

(B2 - archives) In his address to the French commission on the White Paper on Defense in Paris on October 4, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Javier Solana, painted a picture of European policy of security and defense (ESDP) weaving the three or four possible ways to strengthen it. “The current system has reached its limits. In terms of consistency, ie visibility. And in terms of capabilities, that is, efficiency. »

On the abilities, Javier Solana believes that “Europeans must make more of an effort. Still and always. This presupposes an optimization and an increase in defense spending. To help, there is of course the way of "battlegroups". They are indeed a powerful tool for transformation and interoperability. Their better preparation and training are essential. »

The question of the relationship with NATO can “also be viewed from the perspective of capabilities. By strengthening its capabilities, Europe will make complementarity with the Alliance more effective in the various theaters of intervention that they now share. By developing more operational structures, in other words real planning capacities, Europe will also contribute to this. In other words, only a "win-win" approach will enable both organizations to better face new challenges. »

Second way: the European Defense Agency. “We will also have to ensure that we strengthen the Agency, invest more and support the “capacity development plans of the Agency as well as of course its research and development programs.

Third track: intelligence. “One network is not enough. The late discovery of the "Khan" problemthe "father" of the Pakistani atomic bomb had organized a technology transfer network the watch. It is not a question of considering a "European Service". Not at all. The exchange of information and collaboration between national services can, and even must sometimes, go beyond the Brussels framework. But what is the point of detecting a particular threat, a clandestine network, a network of problematic madrasahs in order then to deprive us of all the tools at our disposal, from the ESDP to the economic and financial levers of the Community, and thus rule out the possibility of dealing with the upstream problem? It's all about articulation and trust. Working together would be in the interests of the security and defense of each Member State. Considerable progress has been made in recent years to better share intelligence and support decision-making in Brussels. We must continue in this direction and continue to strengthen the structures put in place since 2002.”

Finally, last track, the response to disasters. “Because there is a clear demand from European opinions and governments. Because in external theaters, this type of operation can only strengthen the legitimacy of the European Union.” believes Javier Solana, citing the example of the operation in Aceh (Indonesia), to help disarm the rebels after the Tsunami. "The very nature of civil protection missions makes it possible to adopt the best possible approach: an approach based on de facto solidarity between groups of countries interested in the same problems and wishing to pool their means - boats and aircraft in the maritime domain to fight against illegal immigration and various types of trafficking, helicopters and Canadairs to fight fires, specialists in nuclear accidents, specialists in earthquakes or certain types of attacks. »

In terms of operations, who are " Considerable progress has been made since 2000. Thanks to the enthusiasm and perseverance of all those who, on a case-by-case basis, were able to invent solutions as problems arose. By deploying missions to contribute to better security on the ground, an essential condition for the success of economic assistance and development aid. The European Union has launched more than fifteen operations. Afghanistan, Palestine, Bosnia, Congo, Iraq, Indonesia, Georgia, Ukraine, Chad… the simple statement of the theaters of operation (shows) that the missions are not easy. [...] To train the Afghan, Palestinian or Bosnian police; to secure, yesterday, the first Congolese democratic elections and, tomorrow, to stabilize the area between Chad and Darfur; to monitor the disarmament of guerrillas in Indonesia; to train Georgian and Iraqi magistrates, Ukrainian and Palestinian customs officers. »

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
article published in Europolitics on 12 October 2007

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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